SPECIAL REPORT | DECOMMISSIONING DECISIONS
Who decides nuclear fates?
Recent energy transitions suggest that political and social considerations outweigh economic and technical factors in producing long-lasting outcomes - and in some cases power rests with just a few political decisionmakers
THE US NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) is considering an application to extend the life of California’s only remaining nuclear power station, PG&E’s 2250 MW Diablo Canyon. For several years the two reactor plant’s fate seemed likely to be very different; in 2016 an agreement had been made to close the plant this year or next, before its current operating licence expired. For PG&E the closure was because the plant would be pushed out of the merit order by new renewables; others saw it as a victory for protest, amid public concern over the proximity of the plant to a seismic fault. Diablo Canyon is just one example of the uncertainty that
exists in some countries over the fate of individual nuclear stations and indeed entire nuclear programmes in the US, Europe and beyond. This is a hugely important issue for countries and nuclear operators: as well as making it hard
to get new plants or programmes into operation, uncertainty raises costs for all parties. This uncertainty has been investigated by researchers in recent years. They suggest that rather than being determined by economic arguments, the outcome is hugely influenced by external factors, especially the political mood and governance structures that ensure an open political debate that results in an enduring outcome – whether for the industry’s good or ill.
Contrasts in European nuclear policy A 2020 paper by Phil Johnstone and Andy Stirling (Comparing nuclear trajectories in Germany and the United Kingdom: From regimes to democracies in sociotechnical transitions and discontinuities, published in Energy Research and Social Science), investigated the “starkly differing” nuclear policies of Germany and the UK.
Above: The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an application to extend the life of California’s only remaining nuclear power station, PG&E’s Diablo Canyon Source: ANS
16 | October 2024 |
www.neimagazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
